Maps of Kilpatrick
As the basis of my maps I have used Irving’s depictions of the parish facing pp 366 & 384 of his Book of Dumbartonshire Vol II. However there are some complications to be addressed. The OS 6″ 1st Series maps show a small section of Renfrewshire lying on the north side of the Clyde. This stretches from the Yoker Burn in the west to the Whiteinch Burn in the east. It includes Yoker, Blawarthill, Scotstoun and Jordanhill. The map in OPS also marks this section as in the parish of Renfrew. Immediately east of the Whiteinch Burn we are into the Partick division of Lanarkshire which runs east to the River Kelvin and north towards Maryhill. The OPS map marks this in the parish of Govan. OPS I p 20 also remarks on this anomaly – commenting that before 1152 Govan and Partick were probably ‘distinct parochial territories’.
At first sight this seems surprising. Why isn’t the southernmost section of the River Kelvin a county boundary as it is further north? Have some changes taken place here both in terms of parish and county boundaries? Specifically – did Kilpatrick once stretch further east? In the text file ‘Davachs in Lennox?’ I have commented that Alexander II’s charter to Dumbarton in 1223 gave the burgh rights between the River Kelvin and the head of Loch Long. I think this indicates that in its earliest form Kilpatrick stretched east to the Kelvin. There are some snippets in the documents to support this. Jordanhill is described as in Kilpatrick in GD20/1/658 1598. I have not managed to locate Threipyard but Blaeu places it between Yoker and Scotstoun. In AS 1 (96) 1620 it is said to be in Kilpatrick parish. Blawarthill (marked by Blaeu) just south of Jordanhill was a Paisley Abbey property which was specifically required to provide hospitality. Moreover Blawarthill lay just north of the road running west along the north side of the Clyde – quite possibly a very ancient highway. It was described in the Paisley Rental as the chapel of West Cochno – which lay in West Kilpatrick parish. In GD148/225 of 1585 Yoker is the alias of Wester Perthik (Partick).
In sum my maps have followed the modern parish boundaries used by Irving. But I think the earliest form of Kilpatrick parish stretched east to the Kelvin.
(For a full description of those parts of New or East Kilpatrick which lay in Stirlingshire see Shennan pp 278, 286-7).
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